Reevaluation
by DoubleL27
Summary: St. John takes Jubilee up on her offer. Sequel to Choices. For Mal


After a long day of shopping with the girls Jubilation Lee was just glad to be back in her room, alone. Love her friends as she might, there were some times when you just needed to be alone. She had practiced earlier that morning and therefore she wasn't required for the training session. She threw her stuff on her bed and continued to her desk so that she could check her mail.  
  
"Hey Jubes." The sound of another person's voice caused her to look up and turn around. Once she saw who it was she nearly screamed, but the shock wouldn't let her.  
  
Sitting cross-legged on her bed was St. John. He was just sitting there, smiling at her like he'd never been gone, never been part of the Brotherhood. It was like one of her many dreams but she wasn't really dreaming this time. At least she didn't think she was.  
  
As soon as her mouth dropped open he stood and clasped a hand over her mouth. "Don't."  
  
When his hand was finally taken away from her mouth she was still gaping. She blinked and shook herself before finally finding words. "What--What are you doing here?"  
  
He sent his age old, confident smirking smile at her as he sat back down on her bed and it was all Jubilee could do to stay upright. "You invited me," he said easily, as if it was the most natural and most realistic thing that had ever happened.  
  
Jubes shook her head in a nearly violent manner. "I--I did no such thing."  
  
He simply raised an eyebrow. "As I remember, you invited me to come," he paused for a moment as if considering his word choice. "home. Said it would all be alright."  
  
"I. you didn't want to come."  
  
"I did some thinking." He paused and looked down a moment, before looking into her eyes and continuing, "a lot of thinking. You know how to push a guy's buttons you know that?" Somewhere his eyes had turned hot and angry.  
  
Jubilee figured she had two choices, be terrified or be strong. She'd been fine after the armored car incident hadn't she? He had let her go, there was no reason to be afraid of him now, not here in the mansion. She lifted her chin up and looked him dead in the eyes. "Good."  
  
"You always did have spunk. Told me I'd become one of them, like the humans that are after us. That stung you know. I'm sure you knew it then. But it made me think. At first I figured, the only way to fight fire was with fire. So what if I fought like they did, how else was I going to get around them? Then I remembered how Bobby always had a way of tripping me up by freezing the fire, that wasn't fighting with fire, but another method entirely."  
  
"So?"  
  
He snarled at her for that comment. "So you had some good points. Wasn't like either of our teams have gotten farther than the other."  
  
She still didn't understand exactly what it was he was getting at. "And?"  
  
"And?" he yelled, standing up with his anger. "Damn it, maybe I'm tired of killing, destroying. Yeah it's easy but it's not, I don't know," he expelled angrily running a hand through his hair. He looked down at the floor and began to play with his zippo like he had years ago. "And so maybe I missed you guys."  
  
Suddenly he'd gone from grown up enemy to young, lost, adolescent. Her heart broke for him. "John," she said, reaching her hand out towards him.  
  
"You told me something else." He snapped the lighter shut as if to emphasize his point before looking into her eyes. "You told me you loved me."  
  
"I."  
  
"I don't know if it's still true or if I mean anything at all to you know, but. no one has told me that in a long time." He stopped as if waiting for her to reply but Jubliee could make none. "This was stupid coming here," he said, turning from her and heading for her bedroom window.  
  
In one of those moments that Jubilee often wondered if she would regret later, she reached out and grabbed his arm, stopping him dead in his tracks. She waited for him to turn around to look at her before saying, "No, it wasn't."  
  
John gave her a highly measured look, as if he didn't know what to think. "Are you saying you still care?"  
  
Well it was too late to turn back now wasn't it? She'd already told him that it wasn't a mistake, his coming here, and he'd already opened up a bit, it was her turn. "I don't know if I ever stopped," Jubilee confessed, trying to keep her voice strong and confident.  
  
John simply quirked that ever edgy smile. "That's good to know," he murmured before bringing his lips down on hers. 


End file.
